Hat frame



April 20, 1954 Filed NOV. 13, 1951 B. L- RICHARD HAT FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

' BETTY LOU RICHARD sf is a c:

RITORI'IY Apr 1954 B. L. RICHARD HAT FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 13, 1951 INVENTOR. BETTY LOU RICHARD ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 20, 1954 UNITED STATES FATE 95' F I CE HAT FRAME Betty 13011 Richard, Evansville, Ind.

Application November 13, 1951,. Serial N 0. 255,905

5 Glai'ms; 1.

This invention relates to apparel. and more particularly to hats or head coverings of the character worn by women and especially those used by young women who are active-in schools and other enterprises.

Hats or head coverings. have been employedof almost every size and shape; howevena hat-which is relatively small, which can be conveniently handled, and which is of a color combination which can be used with other clothes and one of the appearance of which can be easily modified or changed is of great value. This is also true of headdress of. light. weight. simple and inexpensive design and which can be easily made; Hats of maximum flexibility of design and appearance are in greatest demand.

It is an object of the invention to provide a relatively light weight, small, simple, and inexpensive head piece of a shape to readily conform to the head and with a frame of molded plastic or other material to which selected mae terials may be readily applied to complete the hat at a nominal cost in accordance'with' school or other organization colors but susceptible of variation to match an ensemble; or'f'or other rea-- sons in accordance with the needs or selection of the wearer.

Another object of the" invention is to providea head piece susceptible of being produced of easily available materials, which can be" as sembled without pins or other attaching elements or without the necessity for sewing or other permanent fastening together of the ma terials.

A further object is to provide ahat' or head piece including a simple framednto'which small pieces or strips of material of any desired char-'-- acter such as cloth, paper or the like may be woven with the ends tucked under to anchor the same and with such frame-and strips ofmaterial forming the completed'article in which the parts are firmly united but which may be: readily" separated for changing the appearance of the article.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from" the': following. d'e'scrip tion taken in conjunction with: the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. l is a top plan view illustrating. one-apiplication of. the: invention;

Fig. 2,. a side elevation;

Fig. 3, atop plan view of. the hatframe;

Fig. 4, an enlarged fragmentary section on the. line 4-4 of Fig. 1; V

I Fig. 5, a top plan view of a modified form of hat frame;

Fig. 6, a fragmentary side elevation of the frame of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7, a top plan view of a further modified form of hat frame;

Fig. 8, a vertical section of the hat frame of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9, a top plan view of a further modified form of hat frame;

Fig. 10, a fragmentary top plan view of the frame of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 11, a fragmentary perspective of a segment of the frame of Fig. 9.

Briefly stated the hat of the present invention comprises a frame and plurality of pieces or strips of material applied thereto. The frame is cup-shaped or curved to conform to the shape of the human head and comprises a series of spaced concentric rings of uniformly increasing diameters from center to the outer periphery.

These rings are secured in fixed relation by a series of equally spaced radial ribs so that strips of material of distinctive color may be woven about the portions or segments of the rings between the adjacent pairs of radial ribs to provide the completed article. The frame may be of any desired material of sufficient body or stiffness' to tend to maintain its shape, of sufiicient lightness not to provide objectionable weight, and of a size that may be applied in any position or at any angle desired dependent upon the coifiu-re or hair dress of the wearer. The hat can be readily and easily varied or removed and replaced in accordance with the wishes of the Wearel.

With continued reference to the drawing, the hat of the present invention is composed of a frame consisting of a series of rings l6, ll, l2, I3; 1 3, I5 and it of uniformly increasing diameters held in concentric relation by means of a series of radial ribs ll. As illustrated there are seven rings and eight ribs although the number'o'f each may be varied to suit. This skeleton frame is cup-shaped or curved to conform'to the curvature of the human head and so that it may be readily attached to the hair of the wearer. It maybe formed of any desired material, such as plastic, felted material, paper or other substance. of sufficient body or stiffness to tend to maintain its shape but of sumcient lightness to' avoid unnecessary weight.

Theframe and hat may be of any size to satisfy a particular wearer and may be applied at any position or at any angle desired dependent upon the coifiure or hair dress of the wearer. The frame is susceptible of being made relatively large and readily reduced by detachmentof one or more of the outermost rings with its supporting radial rib structure. Likewise the frame may be of a single piece of material and therefore of integral construction or may be produced of a plurality of parts or of strip material.

The equi-distant spacing of the rings and ribs forms a skeleton frame upon which material may be applied to form a completed article.

As illustrated strips of material it are threaded over and under the rings between each adjacent pair of radial ribs. For easy application the strips may be slightly longer than twice the length of the ribs and preferably of the general configuration of the wedge-shaped segment between each pair of ribs. It is threaded beneath the ring segments l6, l4 and I2 and over the ring segments l5, l3, and H so that substantially equal portions of the strip of material extend beyond the rings H and I5 and these ends overlap and are then tucked over ring it next to or under the overlying intermediate portion of the strip in order to secure them in place. The wider end of the strip is tucked under first so that the narrower end overlies the same. Due to fullness of the material of the strips the wedge portions thus woven onto the frame will extend in close proximity to the inner and outer rings and it, and form a wedge shaped section.

A series of such strips may be employed to fill the several spaces provided. Also the material may be of any desired character and color whether of crepe, taffeta or other substance. Further the frame may be of a color appropriate to that of the supported strips. For example for alternate blue and ivory strip a black frame has been found appropriate, it being apparent that other desired color combinations and arrangements of the same may be employed.

In lieu of the frame described, slightly different frames may be employed, for example, that illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, wherein there are a series of split rings Iii, ll, l2, l3, l4, It. These are connected by ribs H, H) and as, provided with eyelet 2i and 22 for the reception of a lace 23. With this construction the size of the hat may be varied by changing the proximity of the ribs H and by means of the lace 23. Thus various size hats can be provided and heads of different sizes accommodated.

The frames of Figs. 7 and 8 are identical with that of Fig. 3 except that the ribs are longitudinally split except for the ring it which i left intact to provide connection for the radial ribs at their common apex.

The frames of Figs. 9 and 10 likewise correspond to that of Fig. 3 except that the ribs ll are split throughout their length including through the ring it] so that a series of 8 independent segments are provided. These segments are held together by elastic draw strings 2t, and 26 so that the segments may move apart to provide an enlarged frame.

The frames of the several figures are intended to receive strips of material as in Figs. 1, 2 and i.

With the structure described a hat is provided of relatively light weight inexpensive construction which can be easily produced of readily available materials and will fit snugly and is susceptible of maximum flexibility of design and color combination so that it is particularly appropriate for schools, to match ensembles, and where it is desired to provide a hat at nominal cost.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and, therefore, the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Hat construction comprising a skeleton frame curved to conform to the shape of the head of the wearer and including a series Of relatively fiat equally spaced concentric rings and a series of equally spaced radial ribs connecting the same and defining between each pair of adjacent ribs a wedge shaped area, a plurality of generally wedge shaped strips of material, each strip woven in and out of concentric rings between two of the adjacent spaced radial rib of said frame and providing a unitary hat structure with portions of such strips alternately disposed above and below some of said concentric rings and with the extremities of each said strip overlying and held above an intermediate ring by a portion of the strip intermediate the ends thereof and with the said wedge shaped strips of material substantially filling the area between each pair of ribs, the exposed portions of said frame and said strips having attractively distinct coloring.

2. Hat construction comp-rising a skeleton frame curved to conform to the shape of the head and including a series of relatively fiat equally spaced concentric ring and a series of equally spaced radial ribs connecting the same and defining between each pair of ribs a wedge shaped area, a plurality of generally wedge shaped strips of material, each strip woven in and out of concentric rings between two of the adjacent spaced radial ribs of said frame and having portions alternately disposed above and below some of said rings with the extremities of said strip over=- lapped underneath one of the alternately disposed woven portions above an intermediate ring and overlying said intermediate ring and with the material substantially filling the area between each pair of ribs, the exposed portions of said frame and said strips having attractively distinct coloring.

3. Hat construction comprising a skeleton frame curved to conform to the shape of the head and including a series of relatively flat spaced rings and a series of spaced ribs connecting the same, a plurality of strips of material, each strip woven in and out of the rings between two of the adjacent spaced ribs of said frame and having portions disposed above and below some of said rings with extremities overlying an intermediate ring by a portion of the strip intermediate the ends thereof and with the material substantially filling the area between each pair of ribs, portions of said frame and said strips having attractively distinct coloring.

4. Hat construction comprising a skeleton frame curved to conform to the shape of the head and including a series of relatively flat spaced rings and a series of spaced ribs connect ing the same, a plurality of strips of material, each strip woven in and out of spaced rings between two of the adjacent ribs of said frame and having portions disposed above and below some of said rings with extremities overlying an intermediate ring by a portion of the strip intermedi-' plurality of wedge shaped segments extending generalllgradially with generally radially extending ribs and spaced apart arcuate shaped generally concentric connecting portions extending between two adjacent ribs providing wedge shaped openings between two adjacent arcuate shaped connecting portions and between said two corresponding adjacent radial ribs, mean connecting a plurality of said segments to provide a hat form for receiving strips of material which may be woven into said frame, at least one rib being located at each opposite end of said arcuate shaped connecting portions and means connected directly to the said end ribs for adjustably fastening said end ribs together for making an assembled concave-convex hat frame whereby the hat frame may corre- 15 spond to the shape of the wearers head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Number Name Date Hawkins July 22, 1862 Howard Sept. 27, 1910 Thompson Oct. 29, 1918 Hinton May 13, 1919 Kerr Aug. 31, 1926 Brothers Dec. 22, 1931 Walsh Apr. 18, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Austria Dec. 27, 1916 Germany July 10, 1941 

